The Avatar Class Shinobi
by Tactition101
Summary: An overpowered Genjutsu wasn't the only thing that Itachi gave Naruto when he transferred Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan into him. When the second ability activated to save his life, Naruto finds himself transported to the world of benders.
1. Chapter 1

The Avatar Class Shinobi

1\. Prologue

Summary: An overpowered Genjutsu wasn't the only thing that Itachi gave Naruto when he transferred Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan into him. When the second ability activated to save his life, Naruto finds himself transported to the world of benders.

Need To Know: As usual in my stories, Naruto is not a complete moron in this story. That said, Naruto is a primary Wind type like canon. Unlike canon, he actually knows Wind style jutsu to accompany the elemental training. He is also able to use jutsu for the other five elements to varying degrees but so far has only mastered his second element which is Water.

Author's Notes: Naruto's outfit is similar to canon. The only difference is that the orange in his outfit is burnt orange and his black pants have a burnt orange stripe running down them. (He's just that good in stealth tactics when he needs to be.)

Story Begins: Hidden Leaf Village: T&I Department: One Day After Team 7's Return From Wave

Naruto tried to get comfortable in the chair that the T&I people had brought into the room while across from him Ino's dad, Inoichi, one of the higher ups of the department sat in front of him. Standing in a ring around them but giving them plenty of room, other members of the department stood ready to act in any way they had to. Naruto wasn't sure what they could do in this case but wasn't about to question a bunch of men and women whose job was to get information out of a person by any means necessary. Exactly ninety degrees to his right, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood as part of the circle watching the proceedings with a critical eye even as he smiled at his Genin. Shaking his head from such thoughts, Naruto refocused on the person in front of him.

After what happened on the bridge in his last mission, Naruto had wanted to talk with the demon sealed inside of him to find out what had happened but didn't know how. When Kakashi gave his report to their Hokage including Naruto's attempt to contact the Kyubi, it seemed that he was of like mind. So Kakashi had found Naruto and told him to go to the I&T department the next morning so that they could help him contact his tenant. Naruto had been skeptical at first, but then he saw a man with the trademark Yamanaka ponytail and everything snapped into place for the blond.

Now the man who introduced himself as Inoichi was preparing himself for a trip into the resident Jinchuriki's mind, something that should prove to be very interesting. Putting his hands into a hand sign that Naruto had seen his classmate Ino do numerous times, he said "Are you ready Naruto?"

Naruto nodded and heard Inoichi mutter something. The next second he heard what sounded like a wolf's howl and his surroundings took a turn for the weird.

Naruto opened eyes that he hadn't realized he closed to find himself standing in an extremely well lit but flooded hallway. As Naruto looked around what looked like part of a bunker system, Inoichi suddenly appeared right beside him startling him a little.

Inoichi took a quick look around as well and frowned. A human mind shouldn't look like this when the person was so young. This place looked more like something a veteran shinobi would unconsciously make to protect village secrets. For Naruto to have a mind like this instead of something like an open field with trees representing memories disturbed Inoichi a little.

Looking down at Naruto, he saw the boy catch sight of a fortified doorway and walk over to it. Inoichi followed and said "That's probably a memory of yours. I would have to open it to see it but I'm pretty sure you just need to put your hand on it and focus."

Naruto nodded and did as told closing his eyes in concentration before they snapped open and he began lightly chuckling to himself. When Inoichi raised an eyebrow at the blond Naruto said "It was my memory of how I painted the Monument in broad daylight without anyone catching me."

"I see. By the way Naruto, how did you manage to do that? I would have thought that the patrols would have spotted you before you finished the first Hokage." Inoichi said with an amused smile playing on his lips.

Naruto shrugged and said "The patrols are looking for threats on their level. They rarely if ever actually look at the mountain since they assume the patrols up there will catch anyone suspicious. But I'll let you in on a little secret, the patrols are very easy to map out for me since I've gone up there so many times. I only had to wait for them to pass before I got to work."

"I see." Inoichi said making a note to tell the Hokage to shift up the patrols a bit since it seemed that they had become too rigid if a prankster like Naruto could take advantage of them like that. The fact that before graduation Naruto had managed to prank 95% of the village at one time or another didn't really factor in this potential security hazard.

Shaking his head, Inoichi took another look around and spotted four pipes running down the hall on the ceiling. He had seen them before but hadn't thought anything of them. The only reason he did now was because he had seen a flash of chakra blue. Now that he was looking closer, he could see three of the pipes were slightly glowing with the life giving stuff while a slightly larger pipe contained a reddish glow of what Inoichi recognized as demonic chakra. The chakra surrounding the smaller pipes coated them in small sheathes that would occasionally flare like small fires. The bigger pipe meanwhile looked like a fast moving river that was in constant motion.

Repressing a shudder from the memories of that night, Inoichi gestured to the pipes and said "See how that big one's glowing a different color? That's Kyubi's chakra in the pipe. My guess is that it's pumping through your body constantly to help you heal. We just need to follow it in the opposite direction than its flow and we should find it."

Naruto nodded and the two began walking down the hallway. After what felt like half an hour, the two finally found a massive chamber that had huge gates held together with a piece of paper that said seal. As the two stepped into the room, a rumbling sound filled the room as a large dark shape moved around behind the bars and two large red eyes suddenly opened.

Naruto stiffened in shock when he saw how big those eyes were but what really got him was when the eyes drew closer revealing the fox face they belonged to and the colossal creature opened his mouth and actually spoke.

"Ah, Naruto. I was wondering when you would show up. And you brought company as well? How nice. I'd offer you some tea Yamanaka, but as you can see, I'm not really in a proper position for that." Right after the fox finished speaking, lights began snapping on from their mountings in the ceiling of the chamber revealing the fox in its entirety. The fox was currently laying down but quickly stood up and stretched like a cat before it looked back down at them with that fox grin again as he said "Now then, I'm sure you have questions Naruto so why don't we go ahead and get those out of the way."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak but Inoichi put a hand on his shoulder stopping him and said "If you don't mind Kyubi, I have a question first. Why are you acting so cordial? When you attacked our village twelve years ago you seemed intent on destroying this village.

Kyubi snorted and said "Hardly. That was all that rogue Uchiha's fault. Stupid Mangekyo put me under a Genjutsu when he practically dragged me out of my previous host. Anyway, the reason why I'm so 'cordial' as you put is because that Genjutsu's long gone and Naruto is a boy. That and the fact that I'm in a cage instead of on a spinning rock with chains keeping me pinned down like my former host preferred if we ever got into an argument."

The two humans rose an eyebrow as Inoichi said "What Uchiha? And what does Naruto being a boy have to do with you being nice."

"And what do you mean by previous host?" Naruto asked.

Kyubi let off a bark of laughter from behind the bars and said "It means everything from my position believe me! But let me explain for you and then I'll answer your other question. I'll answer your question first Naruto since it pertains the most to you. I have had two hosts before you. The first was Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the first Hokage, who sealed me in herself when Madara Uchiha summoned me in the fight at what is now known as the Valley of the End. My second host was another Uzumaki who was brought to the Leaf village when it was clear that Mito didn't have much longer for this world. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki, your mother."

"W-what? My mother was your host before me?" Naruto asked shocked while Inoichi flinched as the final confirmation of his and his friends' suspicions was just confirmed.

The Kyubi nodded and said "That's right. And she still would have been if things had happened differently when you were born. And before you ask, yes I know who your father is but if I told you that right now there's no way we'd get anything done. Now the reason why you being a boy is such a big deal is because while we tailed beasts are made completely out of chakra and therefore are neither male or female, we have always had the mental focus of one gender or another. I've always thought like a male and so having a female host is a big problem for me. And don't even get me started on two female hosts one after the other."

The Kyubi shuddered as he continued "I could sense everything that my host's bodies went through. Imagine having the feeling of a man having sex with you when you tend to think of yourself as a male. And don't even get me started on what it feels like to give birth to someone."

Kyubi shuddered again and was joined by Inoichi as he said "No man should have to experience that kind of torture. The only reason why I could bear it was I knew that a Jinchuriki's seals on females are the weakest when they give birth. I was getting ready to escape in a way that wouldn't kill everyone including Kushina when that damn Uchiha showed up and just went and ripped me right out. It's really a wonder Kushina survived as long as she did with my chakra forcefully ripped out of her system. That kind of thing would normally kill a human in less than a minute once it was all out. I suppose it was just a testament to her Uzumaki heritage."

"Who is this Uchiha you keep talking about?" Inoichi asked. By his side, Naruto looked extremely pale as he realized that his mother was basically murdered, probably right after he was born too.

"Your Fourth believed him to be Madara due to the techniques he used during his fight but I'm not so sure. While it's true the Uchiha's Sharingan could potentially have extended his life, when I examined the chakra of the Genjutsu from in here it felt off. Oh sure, it was definitely a Uchiha who put me under, no question about that. But it was slightly different to the chakra that I remember from when Madara first summoned me."

"I see. This could be a problem." Inoichi muttered.

Kyubi snorted and said "Indeed. But for right now, it's not my problem. While I'm sealed in Naruto, it's my job to help him get out of any trouble when he gets in over his head. But let me warn you right now Naruto. As you are now, you can barely handle a fraction of my power. We're going to have to work on that. That said, when it comes time to fight me for control of the entirety of my chakra, and believe me, that time will come, don't expect an easy fight."

Naruto gulped at the grin sent his way but gained a determined look and nodded. The Kyubi's grin turned particularly predatory at the look in Naruto's eyes that promised he was willing to fight to the death if need be before he turned to Inoichi and said "Now then, I believe I have answered your questions more than adequately. So if you'll excuse me, I plan on getting some more sleep."

As the fox turned around and began walking further into the cage, it looked back over its shoulder and said "Oh Yamanaka, tell that old monkey that you call Hokage that I expect Naruto to know of his full heritage within a year. Kit has a right to know about where he came from after all."

With that final statement, the lights overhead turned off and the fox disappeared into the darkness.

Time Skip: Four Years Later: Two Miles Outside Of The Hidden Leaf Village: Naruto's Mindscape

One sixteen year old Naruto was currently cursing up a storm as he paced in front of Kyubi's cage. When Pein had him pinned to the ground Hinata had tried to rescue him only to wind up seriously injured herself. The rage of seeing one of his closest friends taken down like that had sent Naruto straight into four tailed Kyubi mode. Thanks to Kyubi's training he could easily handle that kind of chakra but of course it wouldn't be so easy that he could just finish things at that level. So he went higher, all the way up to eight tails as he fought Pein and then chased after him when his final path took off through the forest.

Only to be caught flat footed by the mother of all gravity jutsu. If what Kyubi was telling him was true, this was the same jutsu that had made the moon overhead. Naruto wasn't sure if he could believe enough of the earth was crushed into an orb that size and sent into space but he had no intention of being part of a second moon. The question was how do you break out of a jutsu that was for all intents and purposes a miniature black hole?

Behind his bars, Kyubi sighed and said "I hate to say this kit but it looks like we're going to have to remove the seal so that we can go nine tails if we want to get out of this."

Naruto spun around in shock and said "But I thought you said that if I do that before I'm ready to fight you for it then it would flood my chakra coils to the point they'd potentially explode."

Kyubi shook his head and said "We're just removing a first layer filter. There's a lock underneath that you need to use the key for before that happens. Normally I wouldn't even suggest this since while yes I'd be able to possess you to a larger extent than normal, in which case we could really do some damage, it'd only be temporary. We won't be able to keep the full transformation up for any longer than ten minutes. After that amount of time passes, our two chakras will begin tearing your body apart as the seal tries to reign me in."

"So you're saying that we'd have to beat Pein's last path and find the guy before ten minutes? How are we supposed to do that? The only thing we know that would help finding the guy is that he needs to be somewhere really high for his control over the bodies to work properly."

Kyubi made a shrugging motion with his shoulders and said "We'll have to work fast, but this is the only option we have. When you activated the cloak it wiped out that last clone of yours so you can't go sage mode. Therefore, the only choice is to go all out with what we do have."

Naruto sighed and said "I hate it when you're right about these kinds of things. Alright, I'll do it, but as soon as we find the guy, pull back as much chakra as you can but leave enough so I'm not some big target."

Kyubi nodded and said "Of course. No point finding the enemy if you're in no condition to fight him when you do." As Naruto stepped up to the seal, Kyubi had one final thing to say. "Naruto, be warned, when this is over your body will be extremely damaged by the full force of my chakra. So be ready for pain like you've never felt before once we're done."

Naruto nodded before he reached up and lifted a corner of the seal. But before he could make a tearing motion and pull off the filter, a hand grabbed his wrist as a voice said "I wouldn't do that if I were you Naruto."

As Naruto stared open mouthed at a figure that looked almost exactly like an older him, Kyubi rose an eyebrow and said "Well now, this is unexpected. Never thought I'd see you again Minato Namikaze."

Minato turned his head away from his son and looked up at Kyubi with a smirk on his face as he said "Kyubi. Can't say I'm glad to see you again, but at least I got to see Naruto as well, so that's something at least."

A mock hurt look appeared on Kyubi's face as he said "Oh that hurt, right here." One of his tails shot forward and tapped his chest where his heart would be if he actually had any organs to speak of before the great fox let loose with a bark of laughter.

"I'm sure." Minato said before he turned to his son and said "We've got a lot to talk about Naruto."

Scene Change: Hidden Cloud's Tailed Beast Chamber: Naruto's Mindscape

Naruto stepped into Kyubi's chamber and saw the fox sleeping near the cage's doors. As he got closer, Kyubi opened one of his eyes and said "This is a bad idea kit. For you to be able to fully handle my chakra, you have to defeat me with me going full out. You still have at least a year before you can do that properly. Even if that rapping fool is helping you, there is a very good chance that you will fail this."

Naruto nodded and said "I know, but we don't have much of a choice right now. We're at war now. The alliance needs me and Bee to be ready to support the army as soon as possible. If I don't gain full control of your chakra I'll just be a liability."

Kyubi's eye continued to stare at Naruto for a moment before the fox grinned and said "Well then, I guess we might as well get this over with. Just remember, you're going to have to see it through the end."

Naruto nodded and pulled the filter layer of the seal off revealing the lock underneath. As he unlocked the gate, Kyubi's grin turned predatory as he said "Let's see if you're as good as the two before you."

Then the fox roared sending the gate crashing open and Naruto flying. Kyubi took that moment to leap to his feet and went after the blond determined to make his favorite host fight with everything he had.

Scene Change: En Route To Alliance/White Zetsu Army Confrontation

Naruto and Killer Bee stared at a resurrected Itachi and Negato. On Naruto's shoulder a raven sat perched with a Mangekyo Sharingan for one of its eyes. The bird was currently looking around while Naruto and Itachi talked.

"You've come far Naruto. It was probably only a few months ago that we last fought but you've been able to hold your own quite well." Itachi said.

Naruto smirked at the Uchiha and said "Yeah well, you fight quite differently when you're trying to catch someone instead of killing the person."

"Indeed." Itachi said with a smirk as the raven lifted off from Naruto's shoulder and went over to Itachi who proceeded to rub the bird's chest. Not breaking stride from the conversation, he said "Naruto, I need to know, can Sasuke be saved?"

Naruto sighed and said "I wish he could Itachi. But he's sworn to destroy the village. I don't see any way to change that."

Itachi nodded and said "I see." Looking at the raven perched on his shoulder, Itachi's Mangekyo spun as it made contact with the other Sharingan. Naruto watched in confusion as a stream of Chakra shot out of Itachi's left eye and entered Shisui's Sharingan. Once the small stream of chakra ended, the bird took flight and headed back to Naruto as Itachi said "It's obvious that we can no longer hope for Sasuke to learn and it'll take a decade for the Genjutsu to work again. That said, it would be a waste to get rid of a perfectly good resource such as Shisui's Sharingan. So I'm going to key it's Kamui to your chakra. It should send you to a safe place if it registers a situation where you are in too much danger. I just hope you won't have to use this since I can't guarantee that it will work properly."

Naruto nodded as the raven landed on his shoulder. As it did, both Negato and Itachi began to break apart as they allowed themselves to be drawn back to the other side. Negato gave one final smile to Naruto before he completely disappeared while Itachi's lips twitched as well as he said "Until the next time Naruto. With any luck that won't be for a long time."

"Yeah." Naruto said as the two finished dissolving. Looking towards where he knew the fighting was, Naruto activated his new chakra cloak and said "My clones have reached the divisions and are helping them with the doppelgangers. Let's catch up and give them a hand."

Bee nodded and the two took off through the forest on their way to make a difference in the war.

Scene Change: Beach Front

Naruto knew he was most likely screwed. His clone with the Fourth division had finally managed to beat the resurrected Madara Uchiha and the previous Tsuchikage to a pulp. (Not an easy feat. Thank god for the five living Kages.) Then he had to deal with not only the guy who started the whole thing but also the rest of the current generation of Jinchuriki brought back to life. After finally dealing with that mess when the guy had retreated Naruto thought he had a minute to catch his breath, only for whoever was masquerading as the man to bring the demon statue back into the war. If that wasn't bad enough, Sasuke and the fake himself had decided to show up on its shoulders.

Now the real Naruto was currently standing on the thing's right shoulder using a seal that Jiraiya had taught him to keep the two certifiably insane Uchihas from budging an inch while another seal began doing its work on the statue. Down below everyone fled as they followed Naruto's orders to get the hell out of there since he didn't want anyone near the place when Naruto's plan came through.

Snarling at him from where he was trapped, Sasuke shouted at Naruto "What the hell do you think you're doing Dobe!"

Naruto gave one of the famous Kakashi eye smiles that always infuriated him and his teammates when they were loveable young Genin at his former teammate and said "Just finishing this war before it has a chance to consume the entire continent. With you two gone and all of the more destructive Tailed Beasts out of the way for a while, this world can finally get its act back together and stop squabling like little kids over a favorite toy. Of course Kabuto will have to be dealt with, but I'm sure Granny Tsunade and the others can handle him."

"Ah, but Naruto." Madara said from the other shoulder. "With this seal destabilizing the Bijus' chakra, you're going to die as well."

Naruto's smile turned hard as he said "Oh I know I stand a good chance of dieing as well Tobi, or whoever the hell you are. And believe me, I am not looking forward to the telling off I'm sure I'm going to get from my mother when I see her again. But unlike you two, the seal holding you guys here is keyed to my chakra so I can actually leave when the destabilization seal is ready and I trust in Itachi to have done everything he could with his friend's Sharingan if I don't get far enough away in time."

Naruto took extreme pleasure in the look of rage that crossed Sasuke's face at the mention of his brother and the insinuation that even in the afterlife he cared more for his village than his brother. Sensing that the destabilization seal was finally ready to start doing its thing, Naruto gave one last sad smile as he said "Bye Sasuke. I truly wish things could have turned out differently." Then he pushed the last bit of chakra into the seal and disappeared off the statue in a flash of yellow. One point five seconds later, the statue exploded.

Naruto reappeared on the water ten miles away just in time to see a flash of light brighter than the sun. Naruto flung his arm up to block out the light as a shock wave blew past him. A second, larger explosion followed right after the first explosion as the statue cracked further causing Naruto's eyes to widen as he felt the massive heat heading towards him. But before he could try to use his high speed technique to move out of the way again, the explosion rushed past him even as Itachi's raven shot out of his body, Mangekyo Sharingan spinning.

Scene Change: The Space In Between Spaces AKA The Spirit World

Kyubi opened his eyes and looked around. Seeing himself floating in a void with his host's body floating beside his head he muttered to himself "Great, that Uchiha brat's jutsu sent us into space. Fat lot of good it did us getting away from that explosion if we don't have any air for the kit."

"That might be true if you were actually in space Kyubi."

Kyubi's head jerked to his right and his eyes widened when he saw a dark haired man with blue eyes wearing long heavy blue clothes and what looked like a white wolf head over his head walking towards him through the void. With every step the man took, the black of the void gave way to waves of water making it look like the man was walking across an ocean.

"Indeed, spirit. You are not in between planets, but realms."

Kyubi shot his head back to the left and this time saw a woman walking towards him. She was dressed in yellow and orange with her head partially shaved so that you could see the tattoo of an arrow on her forehead that presumably went back all the way down her neck and back. As the woman walked towards him, the void around her gave way to a sky with clouds that flew past like they were in some time dilation jutsu.

"What Avatars Kurok and Yang Chen are saying is that you are currently in the Spirit World."

This time Kyubi had to crane his neck back and look behind him to spot the woman walking towards him. She had brown hair and eyes with paint on her face. She wore long green clothes that Kyubi thought could almost be used as armor. Tucked into her belt were two fans. As she walked, mountains sprung up behind her as if they had been there a thousand years.

"Spirit World? Where have I heard that name before?" Kyubi asked tilting his head to the side before he suddenly remembered. "Wait, I thought that was a myth!"

Chuckling drew his attention forward again as he heard a male voice say "Believe me, Kyubi, the Spirit World is no myth. It is in fact quite real."

Walking towards his front now was a man well in his years with amber eyes and a long white beard wearing a long red robe. He wore his long white hair in a top knot that was held together with a simple ornament that was shaped like two yellow flames. As the elder walked, flames roared behind him in an unquenchable inferno. (Anyone who doesn't know these two Avatars and calls themselves fans should be ashamed of themselves.)

As the last figure reached Kyubi's head, the other three suddenly seemed to vanish before they too appeared in front of him. As they reappeared, Kyubi heard the sound of ravens cawing and his head jerked up as ravens flew down before they formed into the shape of a very familiar Uchiha who stood to the right of the line.

"Hello Kyubi. I must say again that I was hoping I would not see you again so soon. But at least you are only passing through right now." Itachi said.

Kyubi rose an eyebrow but before he could say anything another familiar voice said "Yeah, well it's a good thing my son isn't awake for this, or I'd talk him blue! What was he thinking, pulling off a stunt like that?"

A swirl of red and blue chakra appeared to the left of the line before it revealed Kushina Uzumaki who had an extremely upset look on her face.

Kyubi blinked at the sight of his second host before what the Uchiha said suddenly registered in his head and his eyes jerked to the right as he said "Wait, what? What do you mean we are only passing through right now? I thought the Kamui was supposed to get us from point A to point C with no point B in between. And if we're just passing through, then we're the hell are we going and why the hell are we not there yet? Kamui is said to be as fast as light!"

Itachi shrugged and said "Most of that's true if you're traveling between points that are in one single dimension. But your portal opened a pathway between dimensions and so you came through here where time really has no meaning. In reality, once you exit the portal on the other side, no time will really have passed. But while the Avatars and other spirits in the Spirit World could have just allowed you to pass through to your destination without pause, they felt that it would benefit everyone to talk with you first."

Kyubi rose an eyebrow at that. But before he could ask why anyone would want to talk to him, and more importantly now that he thought about it why his host was currently knocked out, the oldest of the humans stepped forward with a bow and said "Kyubi, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Avatar Roku. You now know Avatars Kurok and Yang Chen. To my left is Avatar Kiyoshi." Each Avatar nodded when their names were called. Kyubi gave a nod to them as well instinctively knowing that he didn't want to piss these four 'Avatars' off.

"We'd like to make a deal with you Kyubi. But first, allow me to explain a few things about the world we came from."

Scene Change: Two Miles South By South West Of The Southern Water Tribe Village: Two Years Before Events Of AtLA

Everyday life went on for the members of the Southern Water tribe as they went about their day to day business. Or at least they did until an explosion ripped apart the sky two miles away and two beams of light slammed down into the earth, one extremely thin and blue, and the other over a hundred times thicker and red. As the two beams of light hit the snow and ice, a massive explosion of white was thrown up matching the lingering effects of the explosion that was still rumbling up in the air over two miles up.

In the impact crater that had formed, Kyubi opened his eyes and shot his head over to where he could feel his host's presence. What he saw was not very promising. Being a construct of pure chakra, Kyubi could handle almost any kind of punishment. And while he and Naruto were in the Spirit World Kushina had did something that had turned her son into chakra as well for those critical few seconds before and during their date with the ice and snow beneath them. Unfortunately, there was no such protection from the explosion that had started all of this mess.

Naruto had been exposed to the explosion for exactly one point seventy five seconds. But those one point seventy five seconds were enough for the highly unstable chakra to leave some seriously bad first and second degree burns over most of his body. The kid looked like one large blister, and the cold snow beneath his body wasn't doing too many favors as Naruto's body tried to cope with the sensations of extreme heat one moment and extreme cold the next.

Kyubi frowned at his host when he saw that he was only just now starting to heal and wasn't healing nearly as fast as usual and thought "The Avatars did say the kit's healing factor would be weakened by me being out like this but I didn't think it would be this bad.' Brining his head in close to Naruto's unconscious form, Kyubi breathed in deep before he let out an even deeper breath over the boy's body. Red Chakra rode on the air before coming into contact with Naruto and started sinking into his skin even as more of it formed a small dome around him. Seeing his host's wounds start healing much faster, Kyubi nodded to himself before he stood up to his full height and began looking around.

As his head turned from one side to the other, Kyubi was forced to let a soft whistle escape from his mouth as he saw that he and his comrade were currently in a half mile wide crater that was as deep as Kyubi was tall. "Damn, didn't think that little bit of the explosion we caught would have accelerated us that much." Kyubi muttered to himself as calculations of how much force they must have needed ran through his head. Sensing a bunch of human presences heading towards them, Kyubi cocked his head before he bent down and grabbed the back of Naruto's jacket in his mouth and leapt out of the crater slamming down on the ground just outside of it causing small tremors to roll through the area and for the people who were clad in blue colored clothes that were rushing to the crater to stumble and fall in front of him.

Kyubi rose a furred eyebrow at them before he lowered his head and gently dropped Naruto's still healing body back onto the ground. Letting out another chakra laced breath over the blond, the giant fox nodded his head seeing the last of the burns fade away into non-existence before he looked back at the newcomers.

Most of them were giving him awed looks, but one of them, an old lady with two teens younger than Naruto behind her was calmly looking up at him as if trying to figure out the best way to interrogate him. Kyubi had to hold in a chuckle at that knowing that at least in the regards of information gathering, almost all old people were the same. Apparently that was true in this world as well as their old one.

Kyubi was brought out of his thoughts by the girl behind the old woman shakily asking "G-grandma, what is that thing?"

Kyubi let a chuckle loose deep in his throat as he said "What am I you ask child? That question has such a simple answer, but it would shatter the very perceptions of this world you live in."

The old lady's eyes narrowed before she said "We have long known about spirits. But I'm sure you know that already don't you? So what could make you different from other spirits that would affect us so?"

Kyubi grinned and said "Perceptive aren't we? Well if you must know, me and this human here aren't exactly from around here."

The old woman rose an eyebrow but before she could say anything, the boy on her other side decided to open his mouth and potentiantally make a fool of himself as he shouted "Of course you're not from around here! You're with the Fire Nation aren't you! Come on people, stop staring at it and attack!"

Kyubi watched the villagers look at the kid like he was crazy and let an amused chuckle out drawing everyone's attention back to him before he began rapidly shrinking. As his form rapidly grew smaller, red chakra flowed out of his body and traveled down to Naruto's body where it sank into the seal. Once he was roughly the size of a horse, the chakra stopped flowing leaving a much smaller mass of animated chakra grinning at the stunned looks of the villagers.

Ignoring the looks that were being sent his way, Kyubi shot a tail under Naruto's body before he carefully lifted his host up and placed him on his back. Then he walked through the crowd of villagers who unconsciously moved aside to let him pass. When he had taken ten steps past the stunned group, he looked over his shoulder and said "Well? Are you coming or not?" That seemed to snap the villagers out of their funk as they shook their collective heads and hurried after the strange spirit who had started walking to their village again.

Time Skip: Two Hours Later

Two hours and a long explanation later found Naruto groaning as he finally regained consciousness from exposure to more demonic chakra than his body had any hope of ever containing. Sitting up from the bed of furs that he had been laid on, Naruto looked around in confusion before he spotted an old lady and two teens who looked to be a few years younger than him talking to a fox the size of Akamaru with nine tails. Wait, what?

Naruto's head snapped back to where the four figures were looking at him, or more specifically, the nine tailed fox who was now standing and heading towards him.

Chuckling, the mini Kyubi said "Good morning sleeping beauty. Glad to see you're finally awake."

Naruto's eyes went as wide as saucers as he pointed at Kyubi and said "K-Kyubi? How are you out of the seal without me being dead? And why are you so small?"

Any humor that was on Kyubi's face left the instant Naruto asked his questions as he adopted a more serious attitude and said "Come on over here Naruto, there's a lot we need to talk about."

An hour later Naruto was rubbing his forehead as he felt a migraine coming along before he turned to look at Kyubi and said "So let me get this straight, that Kamui that we used not only got us away from most of the explosion but sent us to another world entirely. On the way here, we passed through some kind of after life place where you had a chat with mom, Itachi, and these Avatars who proceeded to tell you about this world. Said world is full of people who can control the elements in a similar but different way than shinobi and are called benders. You made a deal with these Avatars that allowed you free movement in this world while still having most of your chakra sealed into me for the majority of our stay here. In return, we're supposed to help some people on some quest in a couple of years that you can't tell me about but that I will know when it happens. Oh and let's not forget the fact that apparently we can't use Kamui again to get back home for another five years because it has to recharge. Is that all? Gee, for a while there, you had me worried."

Kyubi chuckled at the sarcasm in his container's voice and said "You forgot about the part about the Avatar being a reincarnated sage who could control all of the elements."

Naruto rubbed his head again before he stood up and exited the hut the group was in. Turning to the others, Kyubi grinned and said "I think he took it rather well."

"Well he be alright?" The girl, Katara asked in concern as she watched Naruto walk towards the edge of the village and then proceed to keep walking once he reached the outside of the circle of huts.

"Ah, he'll be fine. He's used to dealing with stuff that ranks high on the weird factor." Kyubi said as he stretched like a cat before heading over to the fur blankets that Naruto had been covered with and laid down for a nap.

Naruto meanwhile was walking through the snow while unconsciously using his chakra to keep himself warm as his mind tried to properly process everything he had been told. 'What a mess.' Naruto thought to himself as he sighed and thought 'Kamui isn't the only way to get home, I'm sure I could summon one of the toads and they could reverse summon us back to their mountain. But Kyubi made a deal with those Avatars and he'd probably have my hide if I went back now. Still, I should probably summon one of them so that they can explain what happened to Tsunade and the others. I know Sakura and Hinata are probably freaking out right now.'

Naruto came out of his thoughts and discovered that had managed to walk all the way to the crater where he and Kyubi had landed without noticing. With a plan of action set, even if it was only for the next half hour or so, Naruto sat down and pulled out a scroll and pen and began writing a letter addressed to his village's leader. As he did, he used the opportunity to further sort out everything that had happened since he had activated those two seals that had started this whole mess.

Once he had written his I'm-not-dead letter/report, Naruto rolled up the scroll and placed a special seal Jiraiya had taught him on it that allowed only Tsunade to open, which he calibrated by shifting some of said Sannin's chakra out of the crystal he worn around his neck that had been placed there for just that reason and into the seal making it glow blue for five seconds in confirmation of chakra sync.

Satisfied that only his leader would get this information, (Let's face it, if people learned that he was in a completely different world they'd probably go nuts. Best leave the village leader with information control.) Naruto bit his thumb and ran through five hand signs before he slammed his palm to the snow and summoned a messenger toad.

When the smoke from the jutsu cleared, the messenger toad's eyes widened as he saw the Toad clan's summoner and said "Naruto! You're alright! Do you have any idea how worried everyone is?" Immediately after he spoke, the toad, a small red and black one that could probably stand on Naruto's hand without any trouble balancing named Gamachisoku had the unpleasant sensation of having his body realize that he was in an environment that was way too cold for him to handle.

Luckily Naruto had already known that whoever he summoned wouldn't be comfortable out in the weather and his coat was already open as he said "Hop in Soku." The toad wasted no time escaping from the cold and made himself comfortable as Naruto began explaining just where they were and what he needed the toad to do. Any concerns of Soku running his mouth to the public never had a chance to form in Naruto's mind since Soku and his friends were messenger toads that were trained for this kind of work ever since they first grew in their back legs. Discretion while completing the run was not only their code but in their blood.

After Naruto was done explaining everything to Soku, the toad hopped out of Naruto's coat grabbing the scroll from Naruto's hand before he landed. Turning around, he gave a crisp military salute as he said "I'll get this to Tsunade as quickly as possible. Be ready to summon me again since she's probably going to have a reply for you."

Naruto nodded and Soku disappeared in a cloud of smoke. As the cloud dispersed into the cold air, Naruto looked out over the crater and thought that it would probably be a good idea to fill it in so that way there were no accidents in it. Turning his head to look over his right shoulder and at an ice formation that looked like a pile of boulders he said "Are you two just going to stay there spying on me or are you going to come out and actually talk?"

A brief moment of silence passed before the two kids from the hut, Katara and Sokka if he remembered correctly, stepped out from behind the ice boulders and walked over to him. Sokka was scowling at him while Katara had a concerned look on her face. Naruto opened his mouth but before he could properly greet the two Sokka was in his face.

"I knew you were a spy for the Fire Nation! You're passing intelligence about our village to the Fire Navy aren't you? Admit it!"

Naruto rose an eyebrow before a small tornado formed around him. The outside of the tornado plucked Sokka off the ground and sent him screaming into the ground next to his sister. Sokka landed head down with his upper body buried and his feet twitching. Katara stared in shock at how Naruto had did that without making any gestures as said blonde said to a now extremely cold teen as he managed to get out of the snow "Word of advice pal, keep out of other people's personal space. Otherwise you might find yourself in a situation you can't get out of."

Sokka looked like he was going to shout a retort at Naruto but that thought went out the window as Naruto's hands started forming hand signs at a rapid pace. Turning around to face the crater he and Kyubi had made upon entry into this world, Naruto's checks puffed out before he shouted "Water Style: Aquatic Shockwave!"

Right after Naruto's shout, water began shooting out of his mouth by the gallon causing the two Water tribe members' eyes to widen. The water fell into the nearby crater without any hint of stopping even after what looked like fifty gallons of water had left Naruto's mouth in half as many seconds. As she watched the ninja continue his jutsu, Katara wondered where all of the water was coming from since no human being could hold that much water inside of them.

'Is this the power of that other world's jutsu? To be able to create water from inside, these shinobi would be able to take on any foe even without a nearby water source.'

As Katara was busy thinking about how she really didn't want to make an enemy out of someone who could apparently form massive lakes to augment his weird bending powers, Sokka was merely staring at Naruto as he thought 'That's a lot of spit.'

Finally after ten minutes, the water stopped flowing out of Naruto's mouth and he wiped it as he surveyed his handy work. Where there had been empty space inside of the crater was now a rippling lake. After taking a moment to gather himself for his next jutsu, Naruto ran through hand signs again and shouted out "Wind Style: Great Gale Jutsu!" Wind shot out of Naruto's palm as he thrust it towards the lake. As the wind traveled over the lake, it began turning the water into ice even as it whipped up waves. On the other side of the lake, massive snow clouds were thrown up as Naruto's jutsu continued for a hundred feet before finally losing its power. Naruto kept the wind chakra flowing for five minutes, pushing the edges of the jutsu into the water until the whole lake was solidified. Nodding to himself at the now solid lake, Naruto ran through one last set of hand signs.

When the two younger teens saw Naruto go for another jutsu, Sokka said "What, making your own personal ice rink isn't good enough for you?"

Ignoring the warrior-wannabe as he made a bird hand sign followed by a slightly modified dragon hand sign, Naruto knelt down and put his hands on the lake and pushed his wind chakra into the ice. As the focused chakra shot through the solid water in front of him, Naruto guided it in shredding the ice. Thirty seconds after his palms touched it, the ice was a massive pile of shavings that mimicked actual snow quite nicely.

Smirking at his handiwork, Naruto looked over his shoulder and said "Tell Kyubi I'm going to perform some recon."

Katara had just enough time to blink and say "Uh," before Naruto seemed to blast off across his newly made snow with chakra enhanced speed leaving up a 'dust' cloud as he rushed towards the horizon. Turning to her brother and sharing a blinking look of confusion she said "Do you think he's going to be alright?"

Sokka snorted and said "Who cares about that jerk?" before he turned back around and began walking back towards the village. Katara sighed before she followed.

Time Skip: One Year Later

Every member of the Southern Water Tribe was currently standing on a small 'dock' saying good bye to the blond and his furred partner. The two had managed to integrate themselves into the village quite nicely in the past year as Naruto took the village elder's offer of staying so that he could be informed of the world's history and the water tribe's customs.

Now it was time for him to see the Earth Kingdom and everything that made its culture different, although he was planning on being back in another year. He and Kyubi had landed right next to this village, whatever quest he was supposed to help out with was bound to start here. And he was pretty sure it had something to do with Katara and Sokka who he had managed to become like an older brother to.

Naruto took one last look at the group of huts that he had called home for the past year before he reached into his kunai pouch and took out five of the sharp blades and handed them to Sokka. Giving him a serious look as his 'brother' took them, he said "Use these to keep the tribe safe. Keep them sharp, and make sure they're kept away from the kids." Sokka nodded as he put them in a pouch of his own while Naruto handed Katara a scroll and said "This scroll has a special seal that is tied specifically to your blood Katara. When some of it is put on it it'll send a signal to me and Kyubi. No matter where in this world we are, when we get that signal, we'll come as fast as we can."

Katara nodded before she hugged Naruto and gave Kyubi one last scratch behind his ears. As she stepped back, Gran-Gran stepped forward and handed Naruto a copy of the South Water Tribe's global map from times when the tribe was a city that matched their sister tribe in size. Looking Naruto in the eye she said "I expect you back in a year and in one piece Naruto."

Naruto nodded and Gran-Gran's serious look turned into a smile as she gave the blond Jounin a hug of her own before stepping back as well.

"If we're quite done with the mushy feelings." Kyubi said in an amused tone as he gave them all a toothy grin.

"Yeah, yeah. We all know you want to get out of the cold as soon as possible." Naruto said returning the grin. Turning back to the villagers, he gave a deep bow and said "See you all in a year."

The villagers all returned Naruto's bow before he and Kyubi took a massive chakra laced jump back off of the dock that they had made for the villagers. As they landed out on the water over a hundred feet away, red chakra shot out of Naruto's seal into Kyubi's body allowing him to grow into the size of a small house even as Naruto flashed into the gold form of his most advanced chakra cloak. Grinning at his friend again, Naruto said "You ready to make some waves?"

Kyubi gave a barking laugh and shouted "Who do you think you're talking to kit?"

Kyubi then proceeded to disappear in a flash of red followed by an equally laughing Naruto as the villagers watched on.

Time Skip: One Year Later

"You're sorry? You're sorry? You've brought the Fire Nation down on us! You claim to not be a spy for them but you might as well be!" Sokka yelled as he pointed to where the Fire Nation flare had finally landed while Aang, the young Air Bender that he and his sister had found buried in the ice flinched at the only warrior of the Southern Water Tribe's words. By his side Katara was biting her lip as she argued with herself on whether or not she should further come to Aang's defense.

"Look, I said I'm sorry. We didn't know the ship was booby trapped. And well, we boobied the trap." Aang said almost pleadingly.

"And now we have at least one Fire Nation ship coming at us without any means of defending ourselves from it. Do you have any idea how much damage one of those things alone can do to a place like this? And that's not counting for the soldiers those things carry." Sokka said before turning to his sister and said "And you! What were you thinking, following him into that ship? You should have grabbed the kid and dragged him back here."

Katara looked down and bit her lip so hard it actually bled as she said "I know, but I allowed by curiosity to get the best of me."

"And now we have at least one Fire Nation ship to worry about." Gran-Gran said as she stepped forward frowning.

Sokka turned his gaze back to Aang and his eyes hardened as he said "Aang, for your actions, you are banished from the tribe."

"What?" Katara asked as her eyes went as wide as dinner plates. Aang himself looked like he was going to faint. "But Sokka-"

"Sokka is right Katara. The air bender can no longer stay here." Gran-Gran said as she frowned at Aang.

"But I," Aang said before Sokka pointed out of the village and he sighed before he and his sky bison started walking away.

Sokka's eyes softened before he turned to Katara and said "I wish he could stay Katara, but Water Tribe Law is clear." When Katara nodded he turned to the little kids who he had started to teach with Naruto's help and said "Get the rest of the village ready. We're going to have company soon."

The kids all nodded and began to make the village as defendable as they could by patching up any holes in the higher wall that now surrounded the village after Naruto had left. As Sokka followed to prepare as well he looked over his shoulder at his sister and said "Call Naruto. Hopefully he's close enough to get here in time."

Katara nodded and Sokka returned it before he took off running. Katara looked back towards where Aang's diminishing form was for a minute before she turned around and made her way back to their hut at a slower pace. When she pushed the furs of their hut back she saw her brother sharpening the blade on his spear. Going over to her bed and taking the five foot long scroll out from her pillow, she unrolled it and once again for the hundredth time stared in wonder at the work of art that was the seal that spread end from end on the inside.

Sokka handed her one of the kunai Naruto had left him and Katara placed the blade against her left thumb. Taking a deep breath to steel her resolve, Katara slowly ran it across the pad of her thumb slowly adding pressure until the blade broke skin. Wincing even as a small drop of blood beaded on her thumb, Katara resisted the urge to stick her thumb into her mouth and instead placed her thumb over the seal and allowed a drop of the life giving liquid to fall onto the ink below.

The instant the blood hit, the seal lit up with a blue glow as it registered the presence of Katara's blood and verified it. The blue glow then died for a second before it began pulsing out a sequence: Three quick pulses followed by three slightly longer ones and then three more quick ones. The seal gave a five second pause before the seal pulsed out the sequence again.

"Morse Code." Sokka said, startling Katara out of her awed staring as he walked over and nodded at the scroll.

"What?" Katara asked looking over at her brother.

"Morse Code. Naruto told me it's a type of code his people use over long distances." Sokka said as he reached down and gently took the kunai from his sister's hand and cleaned the blade's edge before putting it with the others.

"Oh." Katara said before looking down. A few moments later she asked "Do you know what it's saying?"

Sokka looked over his shoulder from where he was now making Water Tribe war paint and said "S.O.S."

"S.O.S?"

"Basically Save Our Ship although according to Naruto that's not what it is supposed to really mean. The message is the same though: Get here quick and save us." Sokka turned back away from her and began mixing up the necessary paints for his war paint. Katara sighed and looked back at the seal that continued to pulse out its message.

Scene Change: 247.5 Miles North by North East Of The Southern Water Tribe Village

Most people believe that it is impossible to cross an ocean without a boat of some kind. Most people aren't a creature made out of pure chakra and its current host. As Kyubi and Naruto ran across the water at speeds that blew up massive plumes of water behind them and would leave others wondering just what the hell blew past them, they were currently laughing to themselves at the foolishness of some of said people.

"Did you see their faces when you grew big enough to pick up their ship?" Naruto asked his friend who was currently the size of a horse.

Kyubi grinned at the blond and said "Of course not, they were too tiny for me to see. Of course I saw their faces!"

The poor fools that the two were talking about happened to be a group of pirates who had offered to take Naruto and Kyubi to the Southern Water Tribe but were actually planning on killing Naruto, pilfering all of his valuables off of his corpse, and sell Kyubi to the highest bidder. Needless to say, both Naruto and Kyubi were well aware of their plans from the start but weren't looking forward to a long run and so had played along for most of the trip. However when the pirates made their move Kyubi had showed that there was more to him than an abnormal amount of tails and the two interplanetary travelers had left a ship full of literally scared pee less pirates when they were finally done with them and decided to make the last leg of their journey on foot.

Their amusement was brought to a sudden halt as a seal that Naruto had tied into the one on his stomach which therefore allowed both him and Kyubi to have access to it began pulsing out a sequence of three quick pulses followed by three longer ones and then three short pulses again. Naruto's eyes snapped to his right hand where a combination signal and compass seal that was connected by a line of ink to Kyubi's container seal had turned visible and was now flashing with blue light. Turning his eyes to Kyubi he saw him looking at his right front paw where he felt an echo of the seal as well. Feeling his partner's gaze Kyubi looked up and the two locked eyes before both disappeared in flashes of light.

Scene Change: Southern Water Tribe Time Skip: One Hour

Things were going bad for Sokka right now. He was currently facing an opponent that was a better fighter than him and he wasn't afraid to admit it. That particular bit of stubbornness of his had been beaten out of him, kicking and screaming, by Naruto as he taught him how to fight using his special 'Taijutsu' style. Said opponent called himself Zuko, and claimed to be the prince of the Fire Nation.

Sokka had managed to hit him with his boomerang when it had returned to him, but that had been the only hit he had scored. His opponent had sliced through his spear with ease, tore apart his beginner Taijutsu like he was still on day one with Naruto, and worse, had sliced straight through one of the kunai Naruto had given him with a knife of his own made out of nothing but flames. He didn't dare use any of the other kunai after that. Sokka was just glad that none of the Fire Nation soldiers had made a move against the rest of the village while he had his rear end handed to him.

His opponent stared down at him from where he had kicked him into the snow and said "Is this really all the Southern Water Tribe has to offer? A weak warrior-wanna-be?"

Sokka scowled but before he could open his mouth to reply, a sensation like the air around them suddenly coming alive and a massive animal suddenly prowling the area and wantimg everyone dead filled the air. As the rest of the villagers' faces lit up, Sokka grinned at the confused looks on Zuko and his soldiers' faces as he said "Oh now you're in trouble."

"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked angry that this peasant dared to imply that he was in danger. His answer came in the form of two explosions as they ripped along the sides of his ship's tower as something shot past it at high speed.

"What the?" Zuko shouted as he spun around at the sound of the explosions only to get a foot in the face as a figure dressed in black and orange appeared in the air in front of him and spun as he shouted "Leaf Hurricane!"

The figure's foot made temporary residence in Zuko's face breaking his nose before the prince was sent flying over Sokka's head. As Zuko landed with a cry of pain, the figure looked at Sokka and grinned as he held a hand out to him and said "Hey Sokka, you miss me?"

END

Author's Notes: So, funny thing. Somehow this document was NOWHERE on my computer and fanfic flash drive so I had to download it from Potential stories then copy and paste it onto a new document. Thank goodness I have a potential stories section right?


	2. Chapter 2

2\. Two Winds Meet

Author's Notes: I am sorry for the delay on any new chapters for stories, After I did Time, I did some work on Flesh To Metal Version 1B (Still need to finish Chapter 5 for that) and then just lost all motivation to write Naruto for a week. Still don't have any really, but I'm hoping finally getting this Avatar story up and running helps. _Slaps Cheeks Twice_ Alright, let's do this! _Smacks Leroy Jenkins Away_ And you stay quiet!

Story Start: Southern Water Tribe

_The figure's foot made temporary residence in Zuko's face breaking his nose before the prince was sent flying over Sokka's head. As Zuko landed with a cry of pain, the figure looked at Sokka and grinned as he held a hand out to him and said "Hey Sokka, you miss me?"_

Sokka clasped his hand in the one Naruto offered with a grin and as he was pulled up to his feet he said "Naruto, am I glad to see you!" He looked at the horse sized Kyubi and gave a nod of greeting as he said "Fur Coat."

"Meatbag." Kyubi said with a mirrored nod. With the others, Katara rolled her eyes even as her lips twitched upwards. Kyubi and Sokka had had a rough start true, but not counting their year long separation it had been _months_ since they insulted each other like that.

Any further conversation was going to have to wait as Zuko quickly sprung up to his feet, left hand coming up to his nose. Naruto was slightly impressed when the teen in front of him re set his nose almost on reflex showing he had least some modicum of medical training. Zuko though was just about ready to spit actual fire as he demanded "Who in Agni's name are you?!"

Naruto smirked and said "Name's Naruto Uzumaki kid, Jounnin of the Hidden Leaf Shinobi Village and as of sixty seconds ago your worst nightmare."

"Guess that makes me the monster in his closet then." Kyubi said, and the grin showing off his sharp teeth he gave Zuko had the boy instinctively taking a half step back.

"Why is a Spirit partnering with a human?" Zuko asked in confusion. Seriously, what was a Jounnin? Or a Shinobi for that matter?

"That's for us to know and you to spend several sleepless nights agonizing over." Naruto said, smirk still in place.

Zuko growled and threw a punch, a ball of fire coming out of his fist. A ball which Naruto negligently slapped apart, a burst of wind accompanying the action. Zuko's eyes widened at the wind before they narrowed and he said lowly "So you're the one I've been searching for all this time, the _Avatar_." His eyes then turned confused as he asked "Aren't you supposed to be over a hundred years old?"

Crossing his arms, Naruto made a buzzing sound and said "Bzzzzt, WRONG! I ain't no pacifistic Air Nomad little kid, do you see any arrow tattoos on me anywhere?" He reached up and undid his headband and even took off his burnt orange and black jacket, tying the sleeves around his waist and showing off his blank forehead and clear arms, his tracker seal having faded away now that it wasn't in use.

Zuko scowled and said "But you can air bend."

"That's not bending kid, that's ninjutsu." Naruto said, amusement shining in his eyes.

"Which is clearly just some word you made up for bending, and stop calling me KID!" Zuko roared as he lashed out with a much larger blast of fire.

As the fire approached him, Naruto actually raised his right hand to his mouth and said "Yawn." The next instant, his left hand flicked forward and a gust of wind shot under the fire blast causing it to angle upwards, clearing Naruto's head by a solid three feet. Giving an actual yawn, Naruto gazed at Zuko with half lidded eyes and said "I'll stop calling you kid when you introduce yourself like a polite person would have after I told you my name."

The Fire bender in front of him growled and said "I am Prince Zuku of the Fire Nation." He tightened the stance he was in a little bit more and his eyes narrowed as he said "And I'm the one who's going to capture you Avatar."

Naruto sighed to himself and shook his head as he said "I told you before _prince_, if that is your actual title, I'm NOT the Avatar."

Zuko scowled furiously at the blond in front of him doubting his title only for their little stare down to end as Naruto's eyes flicked to the side and he smirked. Zuku's stare turned confused and he glanced sideways only for a gust of wind to knock into his side and hurl him a clean dozen feet before landing in the snow and sliding another three.

"Aang!" Katara said happily as the bald kid came sliding on a penguin, staff out.

Quickly hopping off the penguin which waddled off without a care in the world, Aang said "Sorry I'm late, I turned back as soon as I saw the ship. What'd I miss?"

"Oh, just some high and mighty jerk getting taken down a few pegs by a friend of ours." Sokka said, gesturing at Naruto with a smirk.

Aang looked in the direction Sokka was gesturing before his eyes widened and he zoomed over towards Naruto and Kyubi, stopping in front of Kyubi with stars in his eyes as he asked "Is that a giant fox with nine tails?! So COOL!"

Kyubi smirked and puffed up just a little as he said "The kid obviously can tell quality when he sees it."

"And it talks too?! That is AWESOME!" Aang said, the stars in his eyes growing even brighter.

Naruto huffed in amusement at that before his attention turned towards Zuko as he leapt back up to his feet, actually snorting fire out of his nose at this point as he stomped forward with rage in his eyes. But as soon as he got close enough to see Aang from around Naruto and Kyubi, he came to a sudden stop spying the tattoos on the kid's arms and head and said lowly to himself "Arrow Tattoos." Eyes narrowing, he said "Hey you, kid! Are you an Air Bender?"

"Yes, why?" Aang asked, looking over in confusion.

"So that means that _you're_ the Avatar." Zuko said with a snarl as his hands lit up with fire.

Aang flinched back, eyes looking everywhere, as if looking for an escape route while the watching Southern Water Tribe members all murmured amongst themselves. Sokka gave the kid a confused look and said "That little guy, the Avatar?"

Zuko though wasn't finished, his look once more gaining a confused aspect as he asked "You're supposed to be a hundred years old, why are you even younger than the other Air Bender?"

Aang glanced at Naruto excitedly and asked "You're an Air Bender as well?!"

Naruto shrugged and said "Not quite, but close enough I guess." He made a gesture with his right wrist and a small tornado briefly surrounded him.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Zuko barked out.

Aang flinched, glancing back at Zuko with hesitant eyes while Naruto sighed and said "Okay, this is getting tiresome. Kyubi, is this the kid those Previous Avatars told us to look after when we were in the Spirit Realm?"

"He sure looks like the image they showed me." Kyubi said, giving Aang a once over who was in turn staring at the two in stunned surprise. Zuko was now looking even more confused, unable to follow what was going on.

"Right then." Naruto said, turning back to Zuko and said "Well _prince_, it's been fun, but I'm afraid playtime's over." The blond shot forward faster than the people around them could track, picked the kid up in both hands and with a loud cry of "Alley-ooop!" threw the kid like a javelin up onto the prow of his ship, a sealless Gale Palm Jutsu making sure he traveled that far.

Zuko let out a surprised yell as he was thrown, landing a bit roughly on the metal deck of his ship. He _yet again_ lurched back up to his feet, spinning around in fury only for him and everyone else aboard the ship to pale as Kyubi grew to a hundred feet tall. The great kitsune bared his teeth in a vulpine grin as he put his front right paw on the now tiny looking ship's ramp and with a squeal of protesting metal put it back into its upright position. He then leaned down, causing more than one sailor to piss themselves in fear and the metal hull to again creak dangerously as Kyubi said "I strongly suggest you leave this place little man, and never come back. It wouldn't take much for me to sink this little rowboat of yours after all." To emphasize his point, Kyubi's hand like paw clenched on the prow and it crumpled with _another_ tortured squeal, now looking like nothing more than a crumpled soda can. With a dismissive huff, Kyubi pushed the ship out into the water, causing most of the men aboard the ship to lurch off of their feet.

Understandably, as soon as the sailors were back on their feet they were quick to begin turning the ship and getting the hell out of there. Zuko continued staring in the direction of the village until the ship had turned enough to take it out of his sight, anger and hate in his eyes.

He is soon joined by his uncle. After a few moments of silence Iroh said "This must be called in. With the Avatar apparently given a Spirit bodyguard along with a second Air Bender partner who is clearly more combative than the pacifistic Air Nomads, we do not have the necessary strength to capture the Avatar."

"I know that Uncle, but I fear that my Father will see us gathering such a large force to capture him as not fulfilling the requirements to regain my honor." Zuko said with a severe frown.

"You leave your father to me Nephew, I will make him see the truth. For now, I suggest you meditate on what you have learned." Iroh said as he clapped a hand on his nephew's shoulder for a moment before he turned to walk away. He paused for a moment though as he said "Speaking of, it seems that we are quite fortunate that the Avatar is still somehow a child, that shall make things easier for us, regardless of the ones the previous Avatars have seemingly sent to guide him."

"Yes, that is true I suppose, but I can't help but wonder WHY he is still so young." Zuko said, still looking out at the ocean before him.

"It would not be the first time someone has seemed to have not aged as they should have." Iroh mused to himself.

"Uncle?" Zuko asked, turning around to look at him in confusion.

Iroh looked over his shoulder at his nephew and said "There have long been rumors that there was an advanced Water Bending technique that could preserve someone for long periods of time, encasing them in Ice. However, such a technique would be incredibly hard to perform correctly, especially on oneself, and it would require a great deal of trust that someone would end the technique lest the affected person remained frozen indefinitely. However, if anyone would be able to perform such an action to preserve their life through dire times, it would be a person who has access to several generations of Master Benders."

Zuko's expression turned ponderous as he said "So the reason why no one has seen the Avatar in a hundred years isn't because he was a coward hiding away from the world, but because he froze himself and there was no one around to break him out of the ice until now?"

"It certainly would explain things wouldn't it? Though one has to wonder what happened all of those years ago for such an act to be necessary." Iroh said, turning his gaze back forward and walking away.

Zuko watched him walk away before he turned back to look out at sea again. After a few moments of silence, Zuko said to himself "The past doesn't matter, all that matters is catching the Avatar in the present."

Scene Change: Back At The Southern Water Tribe

The members of the Southern Water tribe cheered when the Fire Nation ship didn't come back towards their village and instead turned around and made best possible speed away. Aang though was looking up at Kyubi, his eyes practically stars as he said near breathlessly (oh the irony) "And he can change his size too?!"

Naruto smirked as he said "Yep. Normally when we're traveling he stays around the size of an average horse. When we're around others though..." Kyubi leapt up into the air in a relatively short hop, shrinking at the apex of his jump into the size of a normal adult fox, a stream of red chakra streaming down into the seal, easily landing on Naruto's shoulders, the blond not even shifting as he continued "He takes a much more manageable size."

"Why did all of that energy leave him and go into you?" Aang asked in confusion.

Naruto lifted his shirt and channeled some chakra, making the seal on his torso appear as he said "It's a REALLY long story that I can tell you at a later time but the long and short of it is that we are spiritually linked together. When Kyubi's not in Kaiju mode, his energy is shared between the both of us. Think of me as a travel pack holding all of the goods until needed."

"Huh. Don't take this the wrong way, but I really hope the full story explains things a little better." Aang said, scratching his head.

Naruto chuckled and said "I'll try." He gave a slight shift in his shoulders and Kyubi easily leapt onto Aang's shoulder startling a short laugh from the kid before snuggling into Kyubi's warm fur while Naruto retied his forehead protector then put his jacket back on and said "By the way, we NEED to get you some proper gear. That type of cloth you use may have been alright back at your temple but it is NOT all terrain rated."

"Yeah, it does feel a little bit cold around here." Aang said, giving a small shiver before he smiled and said "But don't worry, I used to meditate under a waterfall for an hour with the other Air Nomad Monks even in winter, I should be alright for a bit longer."

Naruto let out a hum before he frowned and said "Aang, when Kyubi spoke to the Previous Avatars while we were in the Spirit Realm, they said that you were stuck in ice for a hundred years. Did...did anyone tell you what has been happening while you were gone?"

Aang's expression dropped, as did his eyes as he said "Yeah, Katara told me. There's been a massive war for the last hundred years." Looking back up at Naruto with determined eyes, he said "That's why, as soon as Appa recovers, I'm going back to the Southern Air Temple to check up on the monks there."

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment before he sighed. Glancing over at the Water Tribe members, he put an arm around Aang's torso and said "We'll be back in a bit."

Sokka and Katara's Gran nodded solemnly and said "Of course, take all of the time you need."

Sokka looked confused for a moment but then his expression turned to understanding and he frowned while Katara looked at Aang worriedly. Aang only had a moment to see that though before the pair of wind users and Kyubi vanished in a whirlwind of leaves.

The pair reappeared ten miles inland and Aang put a hand to his head as he said "Whoa, what was that?"

"Shushin, a high speed technique my people developed." Naruto said.

"Huh, cool." Aang said. He looked around in confusion and asked "Uh, why'd you use it?"

"Because if you're anything like other people you're about to get really destructive and there's nothing out here we have to worry about keeping in one piece." Naruto said.

"Naruto, what are you talking about? You're really starting to worry me you know." Aang said, a large frown forming on his face.

Naruto took a deep breath as he closed his eyes again. Opening them and letting out the breath in a large sigh, Naruto said "Aang, there's no gentle way of saying something like this. You won't find any Air Nomads at the Southern Temple, or any of the other three temples. In the opening act of the war Fire Lord Sozen and his Fire Benders used the proximity of a comet to super charge their Fire Bending and proceeded to kill every man, woman, and child of the Air Nomads."

"Wh-what?!" Aang asked with wide eyes.

Kyubi hopped off of Aang's shoulders, growing big enough to stand eye to eye with the pre teen, and said "Aang, Naruto and I have spent the last year traveling across the globe. We kept our eyes and ears open but found no trace of Air Nomads. I'm sorry, but you are the last Airbender left."

"N-no, you're wrong." Aang said, shaking his head furiously even as his eyes watered. A few spluttered denials later, the sadness turned into rage as Aang shouted "YOU'RE LYING!" Aang's tattoos lit up in blue light, his mouth and eyes doing the same as he threw his head back and let out a wordless yell of pain and anger, a massive tornado whipping up around them as he began floating in the air.

Naruto and Kyubi stabbed large stakes of chakra into the snow beneath them in order to remain in place, the pair shielding their faces from the harsh winds and the snow it picked up. They remained in place, not backing down a single step. But as the pair weathered the storm they had brought about, across the globe shrines devoted to the Avatar began seeing activity after over a hundred years of being dormant as statues, murals, and other depictions all began glowing with matching blue light coming from their eyes. The people at each temple sent word to their various leaders: The Avatar had returned.

Back at the village, the Southern Water Tribe all watched as a massive tornado formed in the distance.

"Aang." Katara said softly, hand to her mouth.

She took a single step only to be stopped by Sokka grabbing her arm and saying "Don't even think about it Katara."

"Your brother is right Katara, it is much too dangerous to go to the young Avatar at this moment." Gran said.

"But he's hurting." Katara said.

"Yes, but even if you could reach him quick enough, he would wind up hurting you as well, and then he would feel even more upset. You may comfort him later, for now, trust that Naruto and Kyubi know what they are doing." The elder said, eyes staring at the tornado that had a pillar of light inside.

Back with the two wind users and Kyubi, the pair continued to weather the tornado, the rough winds whipping at Naruto's clothes even as they held their ground. They maintained their vigil for half an hour before the winds around them began to slowly die. As Aang lowered himself back to the ground Naruto pulled him into a hug and the lights went out on Aang's body, the young bender latching onto Naruto like a life line, large tear tracks going down his face.

"I can't believe they're all gone." Aang gasped out between sobs.

"Not all of them kit, so long as you're still alive, their legacy will continue." Kyubi said, wrapping his tails around the pair.

Naruto tightened his hold and said "Aang, I won't say that the pain will go away, but don't look to the past for so long that you forget to look to the future. Yes, you should grieve for what's lost, but remember that there are still others you can protect."

Aang nodded his head in acceptance of their words. A moment later, he pushed free of their embrace and rubbed at his eyes with his hands as he said "I will need to go to all of the Temples at some point. It might be a hundred years late, but there are last rites I should give them."

"Alright, we'll do our best to stop by each one as we travel to find you Bending Masters, but some of them may take a while to get to." Naruto said.

Aang nodded and said "I understand." He took in a deep breath then let it out in a bone weary sigh, looking down as he did so before he looked back up with determination and asked "When do we begin?"

END

Author's Notes: Sometimes I _really_ hate my sleep cycle. Three days in a row where I if I wasn't at work then I was sleeping for roughly fifteen hours is NOT a productive use of my time. Siiiiigh. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this, I'm going to TRY and get another Naruto story chapter done, though I might shift series again, fingers crossed.

By the way, check out my profile for the poll, it has to do with that Flesh to Metal story I mentioned up top.


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